‘Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.’ Benjamin Franklin
To help us to have better digital cross-learning in our organisations we can install a reverse mentoring program. This is nothing new, but it is back on the list in the Digital Revolution. Instead of assuming the wisest people are the oldest, most experienced and most mature, get younger people to mentor the less digital savvy. This goes against more established workplace practices, but the new world of the fast and furious demands a new approached to mentoring. Millennials see things we might not see. They probably have more energy and are usually in the healthy quadrant, and this is contagious. Digital wisdom can then be shared with people lacking insights and digital seeing which will bridge the gap between the generations, give new energy and confidence to the older generation, and increase retention of the younger generation. It supports the idea that learning never ends.
When we start reverse mentoring as a mentee we need to do the following 6 things:
1. Find a reverse mentoring sparring partner, either inside or outside the company, who you believe reflects the new world best. Ideally have one internal and one external mentor
2. Be honest about your own goals for the mentoring. Have an open mind and be receptive to a different style of communication. And don’t forget that the mentee sets the boundaries of the feedback from the mentor in the way they react to it.
3. Learn, un-learn and re-learn. Be a constant learner, and never stop learning. Start doing some reverse mentoring with the Millennials and Generation Z. Open your mind and be receptive to new things. It’s lifelong. It never ends. Be curious. Digital seeing will need to be an everyday play.
4. Try to find answers to: a. What can I do to use and leverage the latest in technology, social media and current trends in innovation better? b. What does it mean to be digitally cool today?
5. Share your plans or thoughts on digital and ask for feedback
6. Make sure your mentor(s) learn new things from you too.
Many businesses have experience and skills that, with some tweaks, training, reversed mentoring and continuous learning, could become a sparkling business jewel. It is vital to infuse digital skills in all people within the organisation.
‘If you only do what you can do, you’ll never be better than what you are’ – a great quote from Master Shifu in Kung Fu Panda 3 where he is asking Po, the Kung Fu Panda, to try something different, go outside of his comfort zone, grow and learn a new skill.
Olivier Van Duüren
www.thedualarity.com
